


The Demon's Cherry Blossom

by Valentine20xx



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Female Haku, Intelligent Naruto, Kick-ass Sakura, Sexy Jutsu used effectively
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 19:13:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20296552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: One day, Sakura discovered quite how wretched some people can be, when she was saved by a young boy from being attacked. As a result, however, her whole future changed, as she became the Demon's 'cherry blossom'...





	The Demon's Cherry Blossom

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Oni-no-Sakura](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/509500) by Lord Redmoon. 

> Disclaimer: Naruto (C) Copyright Shonen Jump and Masashi Kishimoto, and is used within fair use guidelines.
> 
> This is one of two remixes which may be done of the original 'Oni-no-Sakura', The original is as good as abandoned, with even the author finding the Naruto storyline was increasingly taking a back seat to the sexual side of the narrative, and they may well write their own version in the future, but they don't expect to in a hurry, but at that time, my version will be considered it's own story.  
One adjustment that was done was to replace outright the confusing flashbacks that peppered the first chapter with a brand new chapter, expanding upon the flashbacks with completely new material, involving Naruto using his exemplary henge to help Sakura.  
Another is that I have changed some aspects, both in canon and the original piece, making them younger when Sakura first meets Naruto, as well as making the treaty negotiation, colloquially known as the Hyuga Affair, a few years later, to further hammer home the lack of trust Naruto has of people in authority, and the compromises they make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Civic Defence Committee is intended to be a reference to how there's almost always, in fanfiction, a all-powerful group of elders who want to eliminate Naruto and/or the Kyuubi as part of a revenge campaign. Obviously, with Naruto going 'missing' when fairly young, they won't exist by the start of canon.

According to the village charter and official record, the group of men, ostensibly called the Civic Defence Committee, had only met for a short period, before being disbanded due to the fact civic defence fell under the purview of the ninja mission system, so there didn't need to be a separate group to handle what ANBU and the Uchiha police force were capable of. What wasn't known was that they actually, still met, practically weekly, and none of the minutes of their meetings ever got to the ANBU.  
The current mission statement of the committee was nothing to do with defending anything, but the actions of people who interacted with, as well as the actions of, Naruto Uzumaki, to organise how to ensure he wouldn't become a problem in the future, preferably through eliminating him long before then.  
"It has come to our attention that, recently, 'random' lynching of the Kyuubi has not been occurring as much as it needs to, and it has even gone whole days without ending up hospitalised..." The head of the group stated, "This is less than acceptable, since we lost monitoring of it's movements a few months back,"  
"I apologize again for allowing such an oversight..." The head matron of the orphanage stated from where she was sitting, "I could not keep it's movements under observation properly within the orphange. Even worse, and I remind you, It was beginning to cause the children to actually… care about it as a person... It was terrible,"  
"Not your fault," The head of the group offered, "Now, it is the day of his birthday, meaning we have to give the usual present, despite how much it pains us to do so. As with previous years, we will not notify you of who will be making the sacrifice, but you know your roles. We must ensure that it remains stigmatised and heavily monitored... If the people begin to forget about the sacrifices we all were forced to make..."  
There were nods around the room. The Kyuubi had massacred hundreds of people, but the Hokage was not punishing it, instead giving it massive boons, as if hoping the demon would change it's ways. It was a demon. It had possessed the child that was found at the site of it's last murder, the Hokage and his wife. It had been decided early on that the best way to deal with it would be to force it out, and then banish it to the realm it came from for eternity. That had been their initial plan.  
The problem was that the possession was far too ingrained, and the child, whoever it belonged to, would need to be sacrificed. It was an unfortunate truth, which was why they kept Naruto Uzumaki's standing within the village as low as possible. They couldn't stand that the Hokage wanted to make them into a ninja, and they needed him to die before that happened, so the village would be safe from another incident, even more crippling than the previous one.  
"OK, We will meet shortly after the incident," The head of the group stated, "For now, be sure to have witnesses to where you are for the entire day..."  
They then separated, knowing that one of their children would be put at risk, but if the Kyuubi was found to have murdered or attacked severely a member of a 'prominent family', it would cause it to lose the protection of the Hokage outright. Why did that Hyuga girl have to not get the memo, and actually pitch _for_ the brat?

Meanwhile, Naruto sat in his apartment, with a carefully acquired small cake to celebrate his birthday. He knew full well that if he went out as himself, he'd get attacked, and if he used a henge and they spotted, usually, her, they would dispel it, and the attacks would still come. He actually had got rather good at figuring out the attacks. He knew where the spotters were that watched his apartment, as well as where the 'random' group of drunks that started the beatdown came from.  
The fact that it wasn't a bar was something he didn't mention to the Hokage, since he never found anything and there was ample evidence when ANBU checked of them being at the nearest bar. He also knew, if he defended himself, the medical report would show more severe injuries than he actually caused, with a large fine recommended, then his landlord would charge him for the damages caused to his apartment by the attacks for his 'reprehensible behaviour'.  
He'd not be eating ramen and using his orange jumpsuits if it wasn't for the massive fines. He then noticed a girl wandering around, alone, and cursed. She was wearing very expensive clothes, meaning a prominent clan member's daughter. That was their plan this time. Rape or murder, he didn't care, they were playing hardball this time, ensuring he'd come out so they'd have something to pin on him, and, if he was right, it would not be _just_ a fine.  
But he couldn't let some innocent girl get hurt just to continue this pointless feud between him and some part of the village's government. It was why he didn't follow up really on his protection of Hinata, knowing that protection by the Hyuuga clan wouldn't last. Whatever group did these pitifully easy to predict setups would ensure it.

Sakura walked round worriedly, not really looking where she was going. She was not to know a low-level genjutsu had been placed on her, ensuring she'd go there, or that several people knew exactly where she was at every moment, and she wasn't really as lost as she seemed.  
"Kaa-chan! Kaa-chan! Where are you?" She continually called out, not even realising what she was doing by being so loud and obvious. She didn't even see who had grabbed her, only feeling his hand clamped down over her mouth, muffling her cry of alarm, then she was being shoved against an alley wall by a clearly drunk man.  
"Now, you gonna be quiet, or do I have to cut the tongue out of that pretty head of yours? Would be a waste of a good tongue..." The man sneered, Sakura slumping as she nodded. She'd walked into the one area where finding an ANBU was rare today, partially due to the recent Uchiha massacre leaving them short-handed, and she was miles away from the main revelry. She nodded.  
"Right, brat… When your mummy finds you, Just remember this, You get it right, You'll survive to be six..." The man stated, pausing before stating, in a clear voice, any trace of him being drunk evaporating, "The Kyuubi did all of this to you, no-one else, It was all his fault..."  
She looked very puzzled, wondering why he had, for a few moments, not sounded drunk, and why she was specifically told to say that he'd not attacked her. He then tore off her kimono, throwing it into a muddy puddle, leering slightly.  
"The guy never said HOW I needed to rough you up, just find some lo-" The man began, growling as someone threw a rock at him, snapping, "Goddammit, I'm not the Kyuubi, you dumb shit!"  
Sakura felt herself drop to the ground, curling up and only peeking out at the blond haired boy who had effectively saved her from being part of some attempt to get the Hokage to enact some emergency powers related to 'the Kyuubi', the same one they celebrated the defeat of every year. Clearly, someone felt that wasn't enough.  
If she was lucky, he'd kill the boy instead, and she'd be able to flee. She didn't like thinking things like that, but it was better than thinking she'd be dead before morning. The boy wasn't much older than her. The older man would effectively crush him, he'd not last five seconds. She watched the boy run towards the man, counting the seconds.  
There was a loud snap of ribs breaking, but it wasn't from the boy, it was the man being body-checked BY the boy, whose eyes were burning with eldritch light. The man tried to use a knife, for the boy to shrug off the injuries, which sealed up in seconds. She then realized…  
This boy _was_ the Kyuubi they wanted her to claim had attacked and raped her. She'd been _saved_ by the Kyuubi, not attacked!  
Now she knew why they wanted her to claim the Kyuubi attacked her. Whoever the boy was _lived here. _Her whole opinion on the Kyuubi was given a complete 180 in that moment. Meanwhile, the man was no longer a threat before long, the boy approaching her, his eyes now a deep blue that threatened to drown her, as he slid his jacket over her. She didn't know what she was doing as she jumped at him in gratitude.  
"You'll be fine now, Everything's going to be fine..." The boy whispered, almost like he was dealing with a scared animal rather than a terrified girl, petting her hair and making as little sound as possible.  
"Thanks..." She replied, finding it comforting even with the ridiculousness of how he calmed her.  
"My name's Naruto, What's yours?" He continued, rubbing her back as well, similar to how someone would stroke a scared rabbit or similar. She didn't want to know why he knew how to calm someone this way.  
"Sakura..." She replied, for him to look round.  
"Look, you don't want to be around here… most of the time..." Naruto offered, "Idiots like that come round almost like clockwork, Hell, I actually keep a schedule for some of them, since they try to pretend they don't have a schedule, but I can, by mid-morning, figure out the pattern for the day… So, Where are your parents?"  
"I don't know… I was calling to them..." She began, as she looked over the boy, who was dressed in a black top, and orange pants, which matched the orange jacket that she was clutching like a life preserver. She could figure out what he meant from the patched-up nature of the jacket. There were no ANBU here just to make sure the boy could be attacked with impunity.  
"Look, I'll have to let you stay at my place until you're healed up, and most of the worse people are gone..." He mused, before pausing, "This is important. Right now, I'll bet you 10 ryo that there's some people at your parent's house telling them that you were seen wandering too close to my place, and that they're worried you won't return safely… I'll patch you up, get you presentable, then you get back as quickly as possible to your house, and tell them who really attacked you."  
He then looked her straight in the eyes, as he added, "Don't bring up how you survived. This is important, hugely important. _Do not trust your parents. _For all I know, one of them caused it. Can't tell who to trust in this village, Kami be damned..."

A nice hot bath and some loaned clothes, Sakura not asking why he had girl's clothing, and she was back home, to her parents, deciding that Naruto was being paranoid.  
"Sakura! Some of the village elders were here, saying they saw you wander off…" Her mother asked, Sakura hiding her shock at the fact Naruto had just won 10 ryo,"Your new kimono… Why aren't you wearing it?"  
"A man attacked me, I was saved..." Sakura began, for her father's eyes to narrow in a worrying way. He had caught her slip-up. She mentally cursed. Her own parents! She could see her father's expression. He _knew_ about the fake drunk and the attack!  
"Was the person who… saved you a blond-haired boy by any chance?" He asked, his gaze causing her to slip up and nod, "Did the boy hurt the man?"  
"He fought him, He d-..." She began, for him to cut her off, looking angry.  
"Whatever _actually_ happened, we will investigate it..." Her father stated, Sakura willing to bet he was going to do nothing of the sort, "You stay here, and we'll be back shortly..."  
From what Sakura knew of village policy, that last line clinched it. They didn't want to find the truth. That's why Naruto didn't want the truth brought up... because it was intended for it to never be heard.

As she slept, Sakura suddenly thought about Naruto's statement about not trusting her parents. Her father, her own father, he'd clearly steered the conversation to make her slip out Naruto saved her.  
When she passed by Naruto's apartment the following morning, his arm was in a rudimentary sling, and he was putting boards up over the windows.  
"What happened?" Sakura asked, "I know the windows were fine last night..."  
"The usual crap… Likely tricked you into admitting I saved you..." Naruto offered, Sakura nodding, "Anyway, The man had a statement already memorised, and several people overheard your screams and came to investigate when they saw me drag you into the alley..."  
"There was no-one else there! And why wasn't I interviewed over it?! I was..." Sakura started, before she noticed he was nodding.  
"Yep, as I said, the typical crap… Every single 'witness' said you were too shaken to remember anything clearly, so the truth never got heard," Naruto continued, "This morning, they stoned my house for attempting to sully a loyal member of the Leaf, and got summoned to the Hokage's office for the troubling report he'd got about me attacking two people for coming too close to the apartment, and I was told that he'd already reimbursed them for their troubles. Checked my account, and, as usual, cleaned me out."  
"Cleaned you… They took all your money?" Sakura stated, shocked.  
"Yup. Almost every time I get paid, shortly after I make the deposit, there's a ruckus outside my apartment, which draws me out, and they beat me black and blue, and then, if I fight back, someone alerts ANBU to the fight they 'just saw break out', and I get fined, and I'm on cup ramen..." Naruto sighed, "Hell, even if I don't fight back, they make sure to rough each other up and then stagger out of the area where my apartment is. Some asshole in ANBU deployment leaves a lovely big blind spot outside my house..."  
"But… the Basic Living Requirements require that you are to have one serving of lightly seasoned rice, with a basic flavouring as at least two of your meals in a day," Sakura stated, "It's provided effectively free... Been that way since feudal times, No-one's allowed to starve,"  
"Effectively, but the BLR Voucher Book was misprinted for me, even had one with my name on it with a set of obvious errors. They're _terribly sorry_ but they aren't able to reissue it at the moment. Until then, I have to pay for anything covered by the vouchers. Ramen is a zero-sum purchase, so I can buy it in bulk..."~  
Sakura winced. She didn't use her voucher book, but every voucher was checked against a master record, to avoid someone claiming another person's vouchers. Naruto apparently never even got a usable voucher, which had the value of one koku per voucher, an archaic measurement, referring to the daily needs of one person. They were printed monthly, in carefully set numbers, with every single one accounted for. Since they were able to show Naruto's had a printing error, they couldn't reissue it due to the controls already in place.  
"I think I know what I can do..." Sakura offered, "Now, I seem to remember you owned girl's clothes... Any good with disguises?"  
"I'm an expert..." Naruto exclaimed.

Sakura went to the office that supplied the vouchers, stating she was moving out of her home, and needed a two-koku home voucher book. Naruto attended, using a female henge that she was sure defied normal rules, in that the ANBU watching them didn't even twitch. Normal henges got spotted in seconds by them. Somehow, Naruto's disguise was accepted as true.  
The officer nodded, changing her voucher book into one that would cover both of them, Naruto handing them a voucher book with most of it's vouchers torn out, the name smudged very deliberately, Sakura handing over her full one, both being shredded without more than a cursory glance at a few random pages in hers. They didn't have time to verify both books, and Sakura's had all the right seals on it. When asked why she barely used it, she claimed quite rightly that she didn't eat much.  
As a result, she now had a way to buy Naruto food, with him burning through both koku, Sakura still not actually using her vouchers for herself. She didn't mind. Everyone deserved to eat properly. After a few days, she noticed at least half a koku of whatever was made was pushed towards her, with a simple command of 'Eat'.  
"Look, I know you're on a crash diet or something, but you have the figure of a boy," Naruto stated that first time, shifting into his most common female henge, pointing to her bust, "For a real girl, if you exercise properly, and this village has an excellent _exercise program, _you need to eat your proper share. That's why the koku stipend exists,"  
Sakura stifled a chuckle at the fact Naruto had pointed towards the ninja academy, which was indeed something which was great for exercise. No wonder some ninja had things like pocky habits. They burned through calories like mad.  
"One koku is the daily needs of one person," Naruto stated, "If you're not even eating half of that... You're starving yourself by doing so,"  
Within a year of that statement, she found herself cashing out her own voucher for herself, getting less fatty foods to keep to her diet, but she still was eating her stipulated one koku of food, Naruto be damned. A trip to the hospital dealt with what a proper diet couldn't. She was needing a sports bra before long, Naruto giving her a thumbs up.

Within the committee meeting, they were studying the comings and goings themselves.  
"Can we confirm whether or not the girl Ms. Haruno is living with is the Kyuubi?" The head of the committee asked.  
"She's not bought a single packet of ramen," The man handling the vouchers stated, "The Kyuubi is notorious for the fact he buys that imported crap... Admittedly, it's because it's sold dirt cheap, or even free,"  
"There was a brief scare about the fact she is fond of chicken, especially as meat skewers, but when they started buying their own individual shopping, both of them bought chicken," Another man stated, "I will add that no-one is good enough with henges to get past the ANBU guards... They couldn't see any tells of a henge at any time,"  
"And the Kyuubi itself?" The head of the committee asked, "Any movements?"  
"It moved out and hasn't been seen since," The Kyuubi's former landlord stated, looking thoughtful, "An ANBU guard spotted someone sneak out of the village around the right time, so we can safely assume the monster has fled,"  
"Not the best result, but an acceptable one," The head of the committee stated, "If another major risk appears, we will reform, but this final meeting of the Civic Defence Committee rests."  
None of them realised that the attack on the Kyuubi had coincided with one of the probes by Kumo into the Hyuga clan defences, or the attempt by Naruto to disappear would have never worked...


End file.
